Process and apparatus for filling gas containers



`july 3, 1934. l H. v. KoJoLA PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING c-AsI CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 28; 1952.

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. QW wick ATTORNEY d ffl/G0 V. KOJOLA S BY llllllllllllllll CQEC IM .llllllllfllhllilu lil.

July 3, 1934.

H. v. KoJoLA 1,965,126 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS CONTAINERS .Filed Dec. 28. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a Joa, I 30 l gyn/7 I7 i A `/7PZ//%// vENvroR G- Huso V. KoJoLA Patented July 3, 1934 Tas PATENT OFFICE PROCESS ANI) APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS CONTAINERS 13 Claims. (Cl. 226-20) UNITED sTA into a cooling medium being This invention relates to a process of charging containers with gases; particularly to the charging of portable containers with unstable or combustible gases, such as acetylene, and to an apparatus or mechanism for use in carrying out the process.

Certain gases such, for example, as acetylene cannot be stored Aat high pressures because they are unstable or explosive. These gases are accordingly stored in cylinders containing porous material as asbestos or charcoal, this porous material being held ih place by cement or other suitable binder. The-porous material contains an absorbentl substance such as a solvent for the gas. A typical example is acetone which is employed as a solvent in connection with the storage of acetylene. In charging the storage containers it has heretofore been the practice to place them on storage racks and connect them.

to a gas supply through a suitable manifold. The gas is then introduced under pressure into the containers. During the charging operation it has been found necessary to sprayA the containers with' water or other cooling medium in order to prevent the containers and the gas therein from becoming overheated.

One 'of the `disadvantages of this method is that it requires a great amount of floor space and consumes a considerable amount of time. Also cooling the containers by. spraying does not completely eliminate the iire hazard incident to the proces. This hazard is principally due to high temperatures resulting from heat evolved in the absorption of the gas in the absorbing medium within the containers as well as from the heat` due to the compression of the gas.

It is, therefore, an important object of this invention, to \provide an improved process and improved apparatus for carrying out the process whereby containers may be filled with an unstable and inflammable gas with a. material reduction in nre hazard, with a saving in floor space required in carrying out the process, and with a saving in time over processes heretofore known ACertain of these advantages are also present when the apparatus is used in connec\ tion with other kinds of gases.

In accordance with this invention, the process may consist in arranging a plurality of containers, preferably lled with an absorbent or solvent4 medium, suchl as 'indicated above; 'in'superposed tiers so that they may fbe introduced progressively as they are connected to charging nanifolds which, are` connected through suitable conduits with section.

ing thereof is being completed and until the filled containers have all been cooled below the point at which there is danger of their contents becoming inflamed or exploded. The containers are then moved out of the cooling medium in reverse order from their introduction thereinto, disconnected from the manifold, and stored or transported to a place of use.

Suitable mechanism whereby the process may be effectively carried out may comprise a chamber, as a vat or other enclosure, which is suitably maintained at a low temperature by circulating a cooling medium, as water`therethrough and into which -the containers mounted upon a suitable' rack may be introduced by suitable means. The racks may be of a character to support a, pluralityv of containers in superposed tiers and may be provided with manifold means adapted to be connected with containers supported thereon and flexibly connected to a source of gas supply so that the connection 'need not be broken in moving the racks and containers into and out of the enclosure. l

The above 'and other objects and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following specifications taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of mechanism illustrating one embodiment of my invention comprising an apparatus for lowering gas containers into a vat and raising them therefrom; the vat being shown in longitudinal section; and

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the elevating mechanism; the vat being shown in cross4 The mechanism illustrated in the above iigures comprises, in its principal features, a cooling chamber C, which may be in the nature of a tank or vat through which a suitable .cooling medium may be circulated between inlet and outlet ports 10 and l1, and a support S yfor the containers, which support may be in the nature of a rack having a plurality of superposed shelves l2 for the support of the containers. Associated with the rack sand vat, there is provided suitable 'means for exibly connectingl the containers with I0 a source of gas supply so that in moving the are in driving connection containers into the cooling chamber their connection with the source of gas supply may re' main unbroken. This connection mayv be in the nature of a plurality of manifolds 13 connectable with the containers and flexibly connected to a conduit 14 leading from the source of gas supply (not shown). The racks are conveniently carried by suitable movable means, as an elevator E which may be raised and lowered in any convenient manner as by rotation of a plurality of screw shafts or columns 15 driven by power means, as an electric motor 16.

The cooling chamber or vat C may be of any suitable character into conveniently moved and, as shown, consists of a receptacle having walls 17 and a bottom 18 vo1 concrete or other suitable material and adapted to be sunk into the ground or otherwise supported so that its upper edges will project a short distance above the level of the floor 19. The. vat should be positioned at such a level, that proper drainage will be insured and a suitable overflow drain 20 should be provided near, but slightly below, its upper edge. A suitable conduit 21 leads the cooling fluid to the inlet 10 and is under control of a valve 22. The outlet 11 is connected with a drain pipe 23 with which the overflow also suitably connects, as through a pipe 24. Flow of fluid through the drain pipe may be under control of-a valve 25 operable from the floor level through a rod 26. f

The vat may serve as a foundation for certain supporting structure for the'elevator E and this supporting structure may comprise pairs of upright structural members 27 at opposite ends of the vat which rest upon a ledge 28 at the upper edge thereof. The members 27 may be connected near` thetop and bottom ends thereof by cross members 31 and 31a in the nature of angle irons and may be suitably secured to the ceiling 29 by bolts 30a. 'Ihe cross members 31a also serve to connect the uprights to the vat. To this end, the cross members 31a are preferably 'tw'o in number so arranged as to embrace the lower 'ends of the uprights 27 and rest on the ledge 28 to which they are secured by boltsV 30. x

The cross members 31, 31a serve as V:supports for elevating'means for the rack S which may be, as indicated above, in the nature of upright screw columns 15, preferably four in number,

which are mounted at their upper andlower ends" in bearings 33 and 34. 'I'he bearings may be of an antifriction variety, as shown, and are preferably mounted in protective housings 35 and 36. 'Ihe upper housings 35 also serve 'to house miter gears 37 forming the drive connection between suitable shafts 38 and the screw columns 15. Shafts 38 are driven by the electric motor l16, referred toj above, through shafts 39 which with shafts38 through worm drives 39a at the ends of shaft 39.

'I'he rack S may comprise, as stated above, `a plurality of spaced horizontal shelves 12 which are supported by members 40 depending fromoverhead members 41, which are preferably struc- 4tural members such ,as angle beams, and which are, in turn, supported on suitable beams 42.

'I'hese beams have at their ends heads ,43 provided with threaded bores which engage the screw columns 1,5. By this arrangement it is apparent that the rack may be lowered into,

and raised out of the vat by proper,controllingYV screw columns are" the power by which the driven.

The shelves are of any convenient number, pret- Which the rack may be erably,

which will presently appear, and these .shelves are provided with a plurality of sets of antifrictionv /irons 12a extending lengthwise of the shelves and constituting a part thereof. The dollies are preferably of frusta-conical shape, the smaller bases` of each pair of which lie in oppositiomto each other to provide a trough-like support for the container `supported thereon, thereby preventing them from, being dislodged laterally therefrom. The dollies are rotatably mounted on pins supported by brackets 46 secured to the'shelves. The containers K are preferably loaded onto the dollies from the left or rear side of thefshelvesas viewed in Fig. 2 and, to facilitate the placing of the containers in position, a stationary rack 47 is provided a little above floor level. This rack however, of an even number for a. purpose has sets 'of dollies 48 thereon, which are also ary ranged in spaced pairs. The sets of dollies on the stationary rack correspond in number-and lie in opposition to the sets of dollies on the shelves when the shelves are brought to the level of the stationary rack. The shelves are preferably provided on the right side of the rack with stop members 49 in the nature of vertical flanges, against which the ends of the containers may abut when loaded onto the rack. The flanges serve to limit the extent to which the containers may be moved transverselyv of the shelves and.A to position the inlets 50 of all of the containers on the rack in a single vertical plane.

When the containers are so positioned on the shelves of. the rack, they may be connected through their -inlets 50 with the manifold/13. There is preferably one manifold to every two shelves and the manifold is disposed between two tiers of containers, so that the manifold may be connected to the containers of both tiers by suitable leads'52, which/may be of flexible .metallic tubing.V The manifolds are all connected at one end with a common which is connected with the pipe 14, leading from the source of gas supply, by suitable means whereby, during the movement of the rack into and out `of `the cooling chamber the connection between the containers and the source of gas supply need not be broken. I have found the exible connection shown at 54 to be satisfactory for this purpose. i

The flexible connectionV 54 may be Aof any suitable character and, as shown, comprises a plurality of links 55 in'the nature of lengths of tubing hinged together and to the pipes 14 and 53 by suitable couplings 56 so as to have rotary movement relative to each other, while maintaining an uninterruptedv passage between the pipe 14 and the vertical pipe 53. There may be any convenient number of these links and preferably there are at least two, as shown, in order that there may be provided sufficient flexibility and length to permit the rack to travel the entire length of its path without strain on the connection and without too great a length of each link.

vertically extending pipe 53 120 There may be provided, in the conduits leading cylinders K and, when the valves 60 of the cylinders or containers K, may be closed, whereupon, the containers may be disconnected from the leads and removed from the rack. These operations may be performed `as the rack is raised from the vat and of course after the cylinders have been cooled below the danger point. A blow back line 6l; may be included in the supply conduit, as shown, which leads back to the low pressure side of the source of gas supply. After valve 58 in supply line 14 `and valves 59 controlling ow of gas through leads 52 are closed, valve 62 in blow back line may be opened to drain the gas under pressure in manifolds 13, pipe l53, and flexible connection 54, to the low pressure part of the source of gas supply. This is done in order that there will be no sudden rush of gas from the manifold into the next lot of empty cylinders that may be placed on' the rack, on opening valves 59. Valve 62 is kept closed during,

' charging.

In operation, the containers are loaded onto the shelves from the left as each shelf of the rack is lowered to the level of the stationary rack in the manner as indicated ab'ove. low the stationary rack, the containers on a shelf are connected to the associated manifold and gas is allowed to flow into the containers. The containers on each succeeding shelf are in this manner connected to their respective manifold, and, the last tier of tanks having thus been connected to its manifold, the rack is completely submerged in the liquid of the vat and kept therein until cooled to the desired temperature, afterwhich, the rack may be raised, the containers disconnected from the manifolds and removed from the rack.

It should be clearly understood that any other suitable cooling medium besides water may be used and that, in place of a vat,any suitable cooling enclosure may be provided into which the rack may be moved either horizontally or vertically. However, a vat, into which the rack is lowered, is to be preferred on account of the economy in floor space and because the cooling medium does not have to be withdrawn when the rack is removed as would be the case if the rack were removed from a side or end. Water serves as a suitable cooling medium on account of its universal availability and inexpensiveness and vbecause of its fluidity at usual temperatures.

vWhile I have disclosed my method and apparatus in conjunction with the charging of the cylinders containing combustible or explosive ga'ses, it is to be noted that I may use this invention in conjunction with the filling of containers with,

gases which are not combustible but which require` cooling after ythey are filled. While I have shown the containers as cylinders the apparatus is not limited. Moreover, the apparatus is useful even in installations in which cooling is not required since it permits of the placing of the containers on a rack without excessive lifting.

I claim:

1. The process of charging containers with fluid which comprises attaching containers to a branched source of supply, establishing communication between said containers and the source of supply; concomitantly moving said containers into a cooling medium and attaching additional containers to said branched source of supply; maintaining the containers within the cooling medium untilthefluid within the containers has reached the desired temperature; removing said containers from the cooling medium and concomitantly closing said containers and disconnecting them from the source of supply.

2. Method of charging 'containers with fluid Before passing bewhich comprises placing a tier of containers on a rack; connecting said containers to a source of supply; lowering said containers into a cooling medium while permitting the uid to flow into the containers; loading another tier of containers onto said rack and continuing the operation until all the containers have been connected or the rack is full; maintaining the containers in the cooling medium until the desired temperature has been reached; removing the rack from theV cooling medium and closing and disconnectingthe containers. l

3. The process of lling containers with gas which comprises, flexibly attaching the containers placed in superposed relation to each other to a source of gas supply; and moving the containers into a cooling medium while permitting the gas to flow into the containers; cooling the containers to prevent them from becoming overheated; anddisconnecting the containers from the source of gas supply.

4. The process of filling containers with gas which comprises, flexibly connecting a plurality of containers in superposed relation to each other with a source of gas supply, moving the containers into a chamber; circulating cooling fluid through the chamber while allowing gas to flow into the containers; cooling the containers to a temperature below that of explosion or dissociation of the gas; removing the containers from the chamber; and disconnecting them from the source of gas supply.

5. The process of filling containers with unstable or inflammable gas which consists in mounting the containers in superposed tiers; connecting the containers to a source of gas supply so that the connection need not be broken in moving the containers from one locality to another; moving the containers so connected into a cool ing chamber and cooling them below the temperature of dissociation of the gas with which they are being filled; removing the containers from the coolingv chamber; and disconnecting them from the source of gas supply.

6. The process of filling containers with unstable or inflammable gas which consists in connecting a plurality of superposed containers with a source of gas supply so thatin moving-the containers into a cooling vat the connection may re,- main unbroken; moving the containers so connected into a liquid containing vat and circulating liquid at low temperature through the vat so as to maintain the containers submerged While being filled with gas; and removing the containers from the vat after being completely filled; closing the inlets thereto and disconnecting the containers from the source of gas supply.

'1. Mechanism of the class described for use in filling containers with combustible gas under pressure comprising in combination, a cooling chamber; a rack; means for moving the rack into the cooling chamber; means for connecting the containers to a source of gas supply; and means for maintaining the connection unbroken while permitting movement of thc rack.

`8. Mechanism of the class described for use in filling containers with a combustible gas comprising, in combination, a rack made up of a plurality of superposed shelves adapted to support gas containers: a cooling chamber; means for moving the rack into and out of the cooling cham ber; andfmeans for flexibly connecting containers on ihe rock vwh a source of gas supply.

9. A machine of ihe class described for filling contaixwrs enh a vrcombustible gas which comprises, in combination, a rack for supporting a plurality of containers in superposed relation'to each other; a cooling chamber; means for moving therack into the cooling chamber; vmeans for circulating cooling fluid through'the chamber; and flexible means for connecting the containers .vith a source of gas supply. l

10. A machine for use in filling containersowith gas comprisingv a rack for supporting theA containers .and a cooling chamber; the rack being movable into and out of the cooling chamber; uand means for connecting the containers supported by the rack with a source of gas supply and for maintaining the connection during the movement of the rack into and out of the cooling chamber; and antifriction means on the rack L to facilitate loading of the containers thereupon.

11. Apparatus for use in filling containers with fluid comprising a vertically movable rack for supporting the containers; said rack being provided with horizontal shelves; a branched connection having means adapted for engagement with said containers when they are in place on the shelves; loading means for use inplacing the containers on a shelf when the rack is in a given position; and means for moving said rack vertically whereby different shelves are brought into position opposite said loading means.

-12. Apparatus for use in illling containers with iluid comprising in combination a cooling cham-` ber; a support for; the containers movable into and out of said cooling chamber; and means oonstructed and arranged to maintain unbroken connection between the containers and a source ot fluid supply during the movementv of thesupport into and out of the cooling chamber.

13. Apparatus for use in filling containers with uid comprising in combination arack having a plurality of superposed 'shelves for supporting the containers; a cooling chamber; said rack being movable into and out o"f said chamber; means for connecting the containers with a source of fluid supply so constructed and arranged as to maintain the connection unbroken during such movement of the rack.

HUGO V. KOJOLA.

CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. l, 965, 126.

HUGO V.

July 3, 1934.

KOJ OLA It is hereby certified that the name of the assignee in the above numbered patent was' erroneously written and `printed as "The Presto-O-Lite Company,` l Inc. whereasl said name should have been' written and printed as The Prest- O-Lite Company, Inc., 'as shown by the records of assignments in this office; and that the said Letters Patent should he read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.l

Signed and 4sealed this 7th dayof August, A. D. 1934. I

(Seal) Leslie Frazer Acting Conmissioner of Patents.

prises, in combination, a rack for supporting a plurality of containers in superposed relation'to each other; a cooling chamber; means for moving therack into the cooling chamber; vmeans for circulating cooling fluid through'the chamber; and flexible means for connecting the containers .vith a source of gas supply. l

10. A machine for use in filling containersowith gas comprisingv a rack for supporting theA containers .and a cooling chamber; the rack being movable into and out of the cooling chamber; uand means for connecting the containers supported by the rack with a source of gas supply and for maintaining the connection during the movement of the rack into and out of the cooling chamber; and antifriction means on the rack L to facilitate loading of the containers thereupon.

11. Apparatus for use in filling containers with fluid comprising a vertically movable rack for supporting the containers; said rack being provided with horizontal shelves; a branched connection having means adapted for engagement with said containers when they are in place on the shelves; loading means for use inplacing the containers on a shelf when the rack is in a given position; and means for moving said rack vertically whereby different shelves are brought into position opposite said loading means.

-12. Apparatus for use in illling containers with iluid comprising in combination a cooling cham-` ber; a support for; the containers movable into and out of said cooling chamber; and means oonstructed and arranged to maintain unbroken connection between the containers and a source ot fluid supply during the movementv of thesupport into and out of the cooling chamber.

13. Apparatus for use in filling containers with uid comprising in combination arack having a plurality of superposed 'shelves for supporting the containers; a cooling chamber; said rack being movable into and out o"f said chamber; means for connecting the containers with a source of fluid supply so constructed and arranged as to maintain the connection unbroken during such movement of the rack.

HUGO V. KOJOLA.

CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. l, 965, 126.

HUGO V.

July 3, 1934.

KOJ OLA It is hereby certified that the name of the assignee in the above numbered patent was' erroneously written and `printed as "The Presto-O-Lite Company,` l Inc. whereasl said name should have been' written and printed as The Prest- O-Lite Company, Inc., 'as shown by the records of assignments in this office; and that the said Letters Patent should he read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.l

Signed and 4sealed this 7th dayof August, A. D. 1934. I

(Seal) Leslie Frazer Acting Conmissioner of Patents. 

